Some things are plain stupid. No gray area.

3-D Dumb.

Some people I know where robbed recently, but in his haste the robber dropped a piece of paper that was, unfortunately for him, a personal reminder of his upcoming court appearance. It included his name and address.

Oops.

And then there was the story out of Opelousas this week of the gentleman who stuck a handgun in his waistband. The gun was loaded, a live round in the chamber. It went off. Now, the man from Opelousas —and I use the term “man” loosely here — is not as loaded as he once was – although the story did contain the phrase “underwent reattachment surgery” and “Police had not determined why (stupid man’s name) was walking around with a pistol in his pants.”

Easy. No brain in his head.

Stupid move.

There are lots of ways to say that a guy’s parents don’t have to worry about the Yale Admissions Department clogging up the family doorway to offer their kid a scholarship. For no other reason than they make me laugh, I’ll offer my Top 10.

He’s a few crumbs short of a biscuit.

Somewhere, a village is missing its idiot.

It’s almost like he has a small piece of brain lodged in his head.

Dumb as a bag of hammers/sharp as a bowling ball.

He has a room temperature (or shoe-sized) IQ.

He’s a regular “Elbert” Einstein.

He’s lost all contact with the mothership.

He doesn’t have both oars in the water.

He fell out of the Stupid Tree and hit every branch on the way down.

My favorite: The wheel is turning but the hamster’s dead.

We all swallow a Stupid Pill from time to time.

But then there are things more along the lines of bad ideas. We call them mental muscle spasms. Brain cramps.

A boss buddy of mine found out the hard way this week that the letters T and G are very close to each other on the keyboard. For this reason, he will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.

Muscle spasm.

I was told of a funeral in which the preacher, who kept candy in his desk, said that each Sunday morning the deceased would come into his office and, with a “Good morning!” and a smile, “go through my drawers.”

Brain cramp.

Finally, the worst idea I’ve heard of in a long time happened last week in Detroit, where Hall of Fame voice of the Detroit Tigers Ernie Harwell passed away at 92. A public viewing was held at Comerica Park, where the Tigers play. I am not a big “lying in state” guy to start with, but a casket on the warning track is off base on several levels. I didn’t like the picture of Ernie lying there, flowers all around, his statue by him, velvet ropes marking “foul ground,” for lack of a better term.

“Hey dad, remember when you took me to the ballpark and we saw Mr. Ernie dead?”

“Those were great times son!”

At least there was no danger of him being hit by a foul ball. At least the ballclub didn’t lay their humble, summer-sweet play-by-play guy out during a game. Thankfully, the Tigers were on the road.

As was, I guess, Ernie.

(Originally published May, 2010)

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

By: Daniel Simmons

Last Friday evening, August 25, the WSHS football team traveled to West Ouachita High School for the Jamboree. The Tigers faced the West Ouachita Chiefs in a JV game and a varsity game. The JV tied with the Chiefs 0-0, while the varsity lost their game 14-6. The loss will not count towards the varsity record for the season, as the Jamboree is not a regulation game. The varsity Jamboree consists of two 15-minute halves, rather than four 12-minute quarters like a regular season game would.

The Tiger JV squad appeared to have scored a touchdown at one point late in their game, but it was called back by a holding penalty, keeping the score tied at 0, where it would remain for the rest of the game. The varsity Tigers started off strong, recovering a Chiefs fumble on the opening kickoff return. On the ensuing drive, the Tigers faced a 4^th down and 7 and elected to go for it. Quarterback Damascus Lewis dropped back to pass and threw to a wide open Ryan Davis in the end zone for a touchdown, giving Winnfield an early 6-0 lead. Davis had a very productive game. He was the leading pass catcher for the Tigers in the game, catching more passes and getting more receiving yards than any other player on the team. After the opening touchdown, the Tigers recovered another West Ouachita fumble on the very next drive, but threw an interception soon after and did not convert the fumble recovery into points on the board. After the interception, the Chiefs drove down the field and threw a touchdown pass of their own. The PAT was good, giving the Chiefs a 7-6 lead which they would take into halftime.

The Tigers received the second half kickoff and started out on offense, but were soon forced to punt it away. A short punt set up the Chiefs with good field position for their first drive of the half. The Chiefs offense leaned heavily on their running game and were successful, wearing down the Tiger defense in the process. The Chiefs picked up some free yards on an offsides penalty, then on the very next play the quarterback ran about 20 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 14-6. The Tigers made a couple of nice plays on the following drive, including a long improvisational run by Damascus Lewis on a busted play. They also drew the Chiefs defense offsides on a 4^th down and 1 to pick up a first down. It appeared that the Tigers had given themselves a chance to tie the game when Lewis threw another touchdown pass to Ryan Davis on a 4^th down and long, however the touchdown was erased due to a holding penalty. Lewis’ pass fell incomplete on the next play, turning the ball over on downs. West Ouachita then ran the clock out to seal the 14-6 victory.

At long last, the real deal begins this Friday, September 1. The Tigers will kick off the regular season with a road contest at Pineville High School against the Pineville Rebels. The Tigers will look to replicate their success from last year’s contest against the Rebels, which the Tigers won 33-6

Back in 1994, a group of local Baton Rouge hunters came together to discuss sharing the game they harvested each year for the needy within their community. Since that day, Hunters For The Hungry has increased its awareness and reach, now partnering with five major food banks here in Louisiana and conducting several programs to provide for families. 

This past Sunday, August 27 marked their annual, “Clean Out Your Freezer’ day statewide. Seventeen drop-off locations, including Winn Parish (at Winnfield Farmers Market: corner of W. Main Street and St John St.) collected everything from naturally sourced (and properly packaged) proteins to canned and even store-bought items. 

“Knowing the dozens of local hunters, fishermen, sportsmen, and even farmers in our area it just makes sense,” remarked Chet Atkins, Winnfield’s first-year host as he explained how he stumbled onto Hunters For The Hungry and their list of programs. “One of the easiest things to do is waste a freezer full of meat after a good harvest. This helps cut the possibility of waste. If you aren’t going to eat it, someone with a greater need could.” 

Atkins shared that the day’s contributions led to the donation of over 40 pounds of meat to both the Lousiana Council of Aging and the Louisiana Adult and Teen Challenge. Though pleased to be able to make such a contribution, he hopes for an even better turnout next year and wanted to remind everyone within the Parish that this is the perfect opportunity to give back and work together as a community to see that no one goes without. 

Kiwanian Jason Tarver spoke to the Kiwanis club, Tuesday, August 22nd. Dr. Bill Gaddis introduced Tarver, known in the Kiwanis club for being in charge of the Christmas Parade every year. Tarver is the Regional Lender for Sabine State Bank. He gave an interesting talk on FICO Scores and gave several handouts so we would have more information. There are 3 credit reporting bureaus-Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. For an in house loan a bank would use Experian. For home mortgages a bank would use all three. FICO scores or your credit score is based on your payment history, amount owed on everything, your available credit balance and your length of credit history. FICO scores do not take into account that people do life and things happen. If you close out a credit card or do not have a credit card it lowers your credit score. Closing out an existing credit card reduces your available credit limit. There are people who have not received a loan because they did not have a credit card. Another example would be if you were shopping for an automobile and they ran your credit every place you went it would lower your credit score. 

The credit scores that Tarver normally sees is between 550 and 750. In the 1980s and 1990s the auto industry used FICO scores as a guide but now they are used extensively. Consumer loans use FICO scores but it is not as big a factor yet in commercial loans, but is coming. Automobile insurers use FICO scores to determine insurance rates. 

High school juniors and seniors need to learn about FICO scores. College kids over 18 should get a credit card with a $500-$1000 limit and pay it off 30 days. This will start their credit score off correctly. Some parents sign for a card for a child that is not yet 18 so they can begin building a credit score. Paying a credit card on time is very important because once you are behind it takes a long time to get your credit score back up. 

The reason for credit scores was anti-discrimination. FICO scores have benefits as well as drawbacks. Government-backed home loans are looking at adding gender, ethnicity, and race to credit score. 
A lot of people especially younger people don’t know about keeping up with a bank account and how to balance it. Older people may not have a credit card because they have always paid cash. A lot of factors go into your credit score and your ability to borrow money at a good interest rate. 
This was a very interesting and informative program and gave information that some may not have known. 

Today we’ll look at the correlations between tournament bass fishing and the greatest game in America…football! Now this is an area that I can relate to very well. As a former coach/player/angler nothing comes close to matching what football and tournament fishing gives you. Football is a team sport that’s made of eleven guys working together as one. But if only one guy does not do his job, the other team will make you pay. Bass Fishing on the other hand is all about one guy…the angler holding the rod!

No other sport in my opinion requires the emotional level that football does but tournament bass fishing is a close second. There are just as many emotional highs and lows on tournament day as there are in a four-quarter football game. One play or one cast can completely change the outcome.

Another word that describes both sports and is often overused…. Momentum!  One minute you have everything going your way and scoring on every possession then your quarterback throws an interception, and everything goes south. Same goes for bass fishing as you get an entire school of fish fired up catching fish on every cast, when for some unforeseen reason, they quit biting. Momentum can even carry over from one tournament/game to the next.

No football game or bass tournament can be won without one important detail…. a game plan. Your football game plan can change not just on every series but on the result of just one play. An angler’s game plan can change on the very next cast. You spend hours preparing for your next opponent or tournament and all the sudden, you have to punt and regroup. Then there are days that everything you planned works like a charm and your game plan pays off with a championship win or collecting a check on tournament day.

Then there are times as athletes or anglers that we call a grind. Those days when nothing you planned goes right. Everything you thought would work, does not. Every play/cast is a struggle, and the game/tournament seems like it will never end. Just trying to get a first down or catch that 5^th fish for a limit just seems to take forever and some cases you can’t get it done. This is where heart, grit and determination come into play and the player/angler that has the most, will usually prevail.  

In football, they say defense wins championships. The same can also be said for tournament bass fishing. With football, you go and scout an opponent to gain an advantage. In bass fishing sometimes you go and catch fish in areas you know you’re not going to fish on tournament day because you don’t want to beat up your own fish. It’s not something you do to intentionally hurt a specific angler, but it’s a strategy anglers employ in order to play defense. Every once in a while, you’ll find an area by accident simply by fishing defensively in areas you otherwise might not have fished.

The final comparison with football and tournament bass fishing that just might be the biggest difference between winning or losing…. decision making.  Some point during a football game a coach has to make a decision to go for it on fourth and goal or kick a field goal. One is the safe play while the other is a huge gamble. Anglers must also make major decisions during a tournament day like; do I make the long run for bigger fish and hope they’ll bite, or do I stay where I’m at and wait them out? One has high risk while the other is a safer play. Anglers for instance will most always take the risk because it has the highest reward.

There’s no better time of year as football season kicks off and it’s also when most tournament trail championships take place. Football and tournament bass fishing; two sports that have so much in common and appeal to so many fans. Now you have an angler’s perspective on how these two awesome sports parallel each other. Till next time, good luck, good fishing, apply your sunscreen and drink plenty of water.

Steve Graf                                                                                        

“Hot enough for you?’ That’s something we are hearing a lot these days as our temperatures have been consistently in triple digits. I suppose you can just forget about fishing when temperatures are baking our brains, right? Hold on; in case you don’t know it, you can catch crappie, big slab crappie, when temperatures are as hot as what we’re experiencing. 

Most perch jerkers know that crappie tend to bunch up in deep water in winter and lots are caught by anglers willing to brave the cold. However, what about the blistering days of July and August? Do anglers seriously fish for them while risking heat stroke? You bet your best Bobby Garland Electric Chicken jig they do. 

Several years ago, I had the privilege of fishing with a crappie expert, Bill Pettit, and came away with a tackle box full of valuable information about summertime crappie fishing from this dyed-in-the-wool perch jerker. 

I met Pettit on Ross Barnette Reservoir just out of Jackson, MS where I was fishing as a guest of the B&M Pole Company. Pettit, a retired postal employee in Jackson, was a veritable walking encyclopedia of crappie knowledge and while we caught fish, he shared tidbits of lore that has helped me over the years to know a bit more about these popular and sought-after fish.

One thing that stood out in my mind was Pettit’s comments about fishing for and catching crappie in the heat of summer.

“In spring, you can find crappie on most any lake in shallow water where spawning takes place. However,” Pettit noted, “once hot weather gets here, you can forget about fishing for them in skinny water. They’re going to be suspended in deep water and it takes some searching to locate them. Once you locate them, you can catch one big old slab after another, provided you can stand the heat.

“Lots of times, I’ll get so hot sitting out there under the broiling sun that I’ll quit fishing for awhile, crank my big motor and tear out across the lake at full speed with one purpose in mind to cool off. After I cool down a bit, I’ll go back and start catching crappie again.”

As Bill Pettit and others attest, crappie fishing can be downright super in summer, provided you know where to locate the fish. In general, once the spawn is over and the weather begins heating up, crappie head for cooler water, which is usually deep water. Being school fish, once you catch a crappie this time of year, chances are excellent that plenty more are where that one came from.

In big open water bodies, such as rivers and reservoirs like Toledo Bend and Ross Barnette, crappie congregate in or near channels.  The moving water will attract pods of shad that the crappie will follow for easy feeding opportunities. In most deeper lakes in Louisiana, crappie will gather around structure that is located next to deep water.  Drop-offs that lead to deep water that has structure near its edge are prime target areas.

In the heat of summer, one of the most productive areas to find the crappie stacked up is around the deeper piers and bridge pilings that may dot the lake you’re fishing.

When fishing bridge pilings, it helps to know where the bridge crosses the channel or the bayou or river. The pilings nearest the deep channels are where you’re more likely to find the fish bunched up because likely as not, schools of shad will have taken a liking to the cooler depths as well. When you find shad, no matter the time of year, you’re likely to find crappie as well. 

It’s August and I don’t have to remind you that the heat is on. However, if you follow this expert’s advice and if you can handle the hot sun beating down on your head, you stand a good chance of bringing in a box of slabs. 

The Dog Days of Summer have come and gone but they are trying to linger into September! The Village of Goldonna, although hot and scorched, is ready to usher in the cooler days and nights of fall.

The Assembly of God Church will have a special guest minister at 10:00 on Sunday, September 3, 2023. Barbara Fairchild. Barbara Fairchild Ministry travels the nation sharing the gospel and sharing her love of beautiful music. You do not want to miss this opportunity.

Lakeview Junior Senior High School announces the following: All students who drive to school will park on the Junior High side, softball field area. All parents who drop off students will drop them off in front of the cafeteria. School uniform colors are forest green and khaki/navy pants for high school. The junior high will be wearing orange tops and khaki/navy pants. No hoodies, the school wants to be able to see your beautiful face.

The Lakeview Gators had an unintended day out of school on Monday, August 28th. The power has since been restored and all of the Gators reported back to school on Tuesday.

Goldonna Elementary Elementary Junior High School would like to remind everyone that Fall Pictures will be taken on Monday, September 11th and they will have a makeup day on September 25th. They will also celebating Grandparent’s Day with a scavenger hunt on Friday, September 8th. Pre-K thru Second grade will be at 9:00.Third thru 8th grade will be at 1:00. If you are interested in becoming a substitute teacher please call Anita at the school office. 318-727-9449.

Goldonna Baptist Church is still getting ready to deck the halls with Operation Christmas Child boxes. The church has a goal of packing three hundred boxes. I heard from a little birdie that they are very proud of the Pastor and his lofty goal. If you want to be on Santa’s Nice List get your donations in today. They are still collecting items leading up to the community packing party that will take place in November.

If you have news to share please email Reba Phelps at jreba.phelps@gmail.com

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation or arrested and charged with a crime have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Date: 8-25-23
Name: Woodie F McDonald 
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race:  Black
Sex: Male 
Age: 29
Charge: Criminal damage to property 

Date: 8-27-23
Name: David McDaniel
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White 
Sex: Male 
Age: 39
Charge: Direct contempt of court (x2)

Date:  8-28-23
Name: Obryan Holden 
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male 
Age: 40
Charge: Simple Battery 

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation or arrested and charged with a crime have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

We at Journal Services, LLC are pleased to welcome our newest publication, Vernon Parish Journal. This online publication joins 12 others across Louisiana. Join us in welcoming Rick & Mary Lou Barnickel, publishers of the new Vernon Parish Journal.

“We feel the people of Vernon Parish – Leesville, New Llano, Anacoco, North Fort Johnson and South Fort
Johnson, and surrounding towns – deserve their own publication,” said Bill Vance. “At Journal Services LLC, we pride ourselves in covering local parishes with high-quality news and advertising to keep our readers up to date on what’s happening in their communities.”

All Journals cover local news, features, and sports. Subscriptions are – and always will be – free. Please visit www.vernonparishjournal.com and sign up today – CLICK HERE.

Click to visit any of our journals:

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Webster Parish Journal
Winn Parish Journal

Margaret Brooks
August 28, 2023
Arrangements TBA at Winnfield Funeral Home

Dora Combest
August 29, 2023
Arrangements TBA at Winnfield Funeral Home

Karmen Alexis Braxton
August 22, 2023 – August 22, 2023
Service: Friday, September 1 at 11 am at Winnfield Memorial Funeral Home Chapel, located at 318 North St. in Natchitoches

Kevin Wayne Robinson
November 9, 1976 – August 18, 2023
Service: Saturday, September 2 at 2 pm in the Winnfield Memorial Funeral Home Chapel

Columbus “Red” Shields
August 20, 2023
Service: Saturday, September 2 at 10 am in the Winnfield Memorial Funeral Home Chapel

Sadie M. Lewis
July 16, 1957 – August 23, 2023
Service: Saturday, September 2 at 10 am at the North Star Baptist Church in Powhatan

By: Daniel Simmons

This past Friday evening, the Winnfield Tiger football team traveled over to St. Mary’s School in Natchitoches to participate in a three-way scrimmage with the Tigers of St. Mary’s and the Cougars from Grant High School. Scrimmages are similar to 7-on-7s in that they are not official contests, score is not kept, they are just a form of extra practice against other teams. However, scrimmages look much more similar to a real game, as it is 11-on-11 with players dressed in full pads.

The teams battled through punishing extreme heat, and as one could imagine, the grass was bone-dry due to the exceptional drought. This scrimmage gave new meaning to the phrase “Three yards and a cloud of dust.” Between both sides of the ball, the hometown Tigers played a total of about 70 snaps, with the varsity starters playing about 2/3 of the snaps, and the JV getting the other 1/3. St. Mary’s and Grant faced off first, then Winnfield played against Grant, then Winnfield faced St. Mary’s to end the night. Highlights of the evening for the Tigers included a touchdown pass from Damascus Lewis to Jaylen Givens, and an interception in the end zone by Breylan Starks.

“I’m pleased with the boys’ efforts,” said WSHS head coach Jay Watson. “However, we looked just like a team with 20 new starters in their first live scrimmage. We have a long way to go before we’re a good football team but the coaches and players are working hard each day. We gave up some big plays in the passing game Friday night. Some were due to the secondary not communicating effectively and some were due to the breakdown of contain of the QB on the sprint out game. I felt like our offense moved the ball well and executed some parts of the offense well. We will continue to evaluate players and different personnel groupings moving forward to give us the best chance to be successful. We told the kids after the game that if we had not played hard or had not been hustling or just gotten beat up and pushed around I’d be really worried. That was not the case, I feel that the things we looked bad at can be corrected.”

In other WSHS football news, the team held its annual Ironman competition this past offseason. The Ironman competition is comprised of 8 events. (Bench Press, Squat, Hang Clean, 40-yard dash, Pro Shuttle, Vertical Jump, Medicine Ball Run, and Leg Test.) The athlete with the best mark in each event is given a score of 1 and the second best is awarded a score of 2 and so on. At the conclusion of all 8 events, all scores are tallied and the athlete with the lowest score (like golf) is named the Ironman for the Spring. It is a competition that involves Strength, Speed and Endurance. The top eleven athletes are recognized and the lowest score is the WSHS Ironman.

This Friday, the Tigers will head up to the community of Cadeville, home of West Ouachita High School, where the Tigers will face the West Ouachita Chiefs in the Jamboree. Friday’s high air temperature should near 110 degrees, and the Chiefs’ home field is artificial turf. When the sun is out, these two factors should work together to make the on-field temperatures soar to levels most of the players have likely never experienced before. As such, the start time has been moved back to 7 PM, in order to play in slightly cooler weather with more shade. The JV will start things off at 7, and the varsity will follow about 20 minutes after the conclusion of the JV game.

This was the text message:

“My Lone Ranger lunchbox lunch every day for 5 years.

2 PB&J’s wrapped in tinfoil and thermos of sweet tea.

No snacks or exotic stuff from my mom.

That was it.”

Felt like getting a message in a bottle from a castaway, and knowing it was much too late to help him. “If I could have just gotten the guy some Fritos, or a Bite-Size Milky Way,” I’m thinking …

But what really got me was “lunchbox.” Had never thought about it much, but I missed the entire “lunchbox” cycle of a kid’s life. I was a ride-the-bus, eat-in-the-cafeteria kid.

Old school.

Never had a lunch box. (Except one time on Halloween when Mrs. Alice in second grade let us dress up and have a party and our parents could come for an outside picnic lunch so I packed one and my lunch box was called “a paper sack.” No idea why I’ve always remembered that. Dressed up like a pirate. Wonder if I packed fish and chips and something to keep me from getting scurvy and rickets?)

In the ignorance of rural youth, I never knew there were Lone Ranger lunch boxes, because surely I would have wanted one. Would have coveted one. A little tin box with a matching thermos, filled with peanut butter and jelly or maybe even “round steak” (bologna) on fresh white bread. What was in it wouldn’t have mattered much. I suspect the box itself was the thing.

I’ve studied and found there were Gomer Pyle lunch boxes. Gilligan’s Island. The Hulk. Happy Days. The Six Million Dollar Man. And — are you kidding me? — Superman.

Ignorance is bliss, thank goodness. I was lucky for what I didn’t know. I hope if I’d have had a lunch box that it would have been The Lone Ranger or Batman and not something stupid like The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie.

“Hey, which one of you losers belongs to this Partridge Family lunch box?!,” the kid with the Evel Knievel lunch box was wanting to know.

Sometimes I wonder what Lunch Box Life would be as a grownup.

“Hey TA, let’s go eat a gourmet burger or some enchiladas. I’m buying.”

Me: “Y’all go ahead. I’ll just eat this deviled ham and some moldy Ritz from my Wonder Woman lunch box.”

It would be all about the lunch box for me.

But things happened for me as they were supposed to, because one of the best memories of my wasted youth was the smell of a certain food baking each mid-morning at Lake View Elementary. That aroma was the portal to olfactory heaven. We’re talking — and I shouldn’t even have to write this — yeast rolls, the smell of hope and comfort and joy.

I love the smell of elementary school yeast rolls in the morning.

Mrs. Erline Perritt was the magic behind the memory. Black hair pulled back tight and under a hair net to showcase a round face always smiling. The yeast rolls she made on those giant sheet pans were things of fluffy goodness that could keep you battling through spelling class, knowing that if you could hold out a little while longer, she’d be putting a couple of those on your tray, maybe sneaking you one for dessert.

What smelled better to a little kid back then? A cheerleader’s perfume, maybe? But I doubt it.

Mrs. Erline Perritt. I didn’t need a lunch box. She was my real-life Wonder Woman.

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

By Daniel Simmons 

This past Friday evening, the Winnfield Tiger football team traveled over to St. Mary’s School in Natchitoches to participate in a three-way scrimmage with the Tigers of St. Mary’s and the Cougars from Grant High School. Scrimmages are similar to 7-on-7s in that they are not official contests, score is not kept, they are just a form of extra practice against other teams. However, scrimmages look much more similar to a real game, as it is 11-on-11 with players dressed in full pads. 

The teams battled through punishing extreme heat, and as one could imagine, the grass was bone-dry due to the exceptional drought. This scrimmage gave new meaning to the phrase “Three yards and a cloud of dust.” Between both sides of the ball, the hometown Tigers played a total of about 70 snaps, with the varsity starters playing about 2/3 of the snaps, and the JV getting the other 1/3. St. Mary’s and Grant faced off first, then Winnfield played against Grant, then Winnfield faced St. Mary’s to end the night. Highlights of the evening for the Tigers included a touchdown pass from Damascus Lewis to Jaylen Givens, and an interception in the end zone by Breylan Starks.

“I’m pleased with the boys’ efforts,” said WSHS head coach Jay Watson. “However, we looked just like a team with 20 new starters in their first live scrimmage. We have a long way to go before we’re a good football team but the coaches and players are working hard each day. We gave up some big plays in the passing game Friday night. Some were due to the secondary not communicating effectively and some were due to the breakdown of contain of the QB on the sprint out game. I felt like our offense moved the ball well and executed some parts of the offense well. We will continue to evaluate players and different personnel groupings moving forward to give us the best chance to be successful. We told the kids after the game that if we had not played hard or had not been hustling or just gotten beat up and pushed around I’d be really worried. That was not the case, I feel that the things we looked bad at can be corrected.”

In other WSHS football news, the team held its annual Ironman competition this past offseason.
The Ironman competition is comprised of 8 events. (Bench Press, Squat, Hang Clean, 40-yard dash, Pro Shuttle, Vertical Jump, Medicine Ball Run, and Leg Test.) The athlete with the best mark in each event is given a score of 1 and the second best is awarded the score of 2 and so on. At the conclusion of all 8 events, all scores are tallied and the athlete with the lowest score (like golf) is named the Ironman for the Spring. It is a competition that involves Strength, Speed and Endurance. The following are the point totals for this year’s Ironman competition. The top eleven athletes are recognized and the lowest score is the WSHS Ironman.    

These are the top 11 finishers for Ironman 2023! L to R: Jaylen Givens, Dyson Combs, Jaterion Hobdy, Payton Shelton, Ryan Davis, Eli Little, Jake Jones, John Michael Pickett, Josh Hayes, Damascus Lewis Kneeling: 2023 Ironman, Henry Craig

This Friday, the Tigers will head up to the community of Cadeville, home of West Ouachita High School, where the Tigers will face the West Ouachita Chiefs in the Jamboree. Friday’s high air temperature should near 110 degrees, and the Chiefs’ home field is artificial turf. When the sun is out, these two factors should work together to make the on-field temperatures soar to levels most of the players have likely never experienced before. As such, the start time has been moved back to 7 PM, in order to play in slightly cooler weather with more shade. The JV will start things off at 7, and the varsity will follow about 20 minutes later.